How to Feng Shui Your Home

“Home is the place where it feels right to walk around without shoes” ~ Anonymous

Your home is not just a structure of walls, but also a place of relaxation and reprieve from everyday life. It is believed that the elements of your home greatly affect your daily life and Feng Shui can help direct this.

What is Feng Shui? Feng Shui is a Chinese art and science that is about the balancing of energy to promote health and fortune for the people inhabiting an area. The practice of Feng Shui dates back to over three thousand years and was developed based on the idea that land and nature is filled with Chi or energy and how this energy occupies a space is what brings in a good harvest. Feng (pronounced Fung) represents wind, where Shui (pronounced Shway) stands for the element of water. The belief is that the harmonious balance between gentle winds and clear water, leads to health and fortune. The main method used in analyzing the Feng Shui of an area is through Ba–Gua (literal translation “8 areas”). Ba-Gua, incorporates properties like a compass and assigns the interacting elements such as wood, fire, earth, water, and metal.

Feng Shui is more of a functional decorative aspect that focuses on harmonizing the energy in your home, rather than just planning around aesthetics.

To begin establishing a positive Feng Shui in your home, here are some simple starter tips.

The front entrance to your home. The main entrance into your home is considered the mouth of the Chi, because this is mainly where the Chi enters and spreads through the rest of your home. Walkways leading up to your front door should be clear of debris, and vegetation should be trimmed and not blocking the path. Your front door and walkway should be open and clear of clutter, as you do not want to inhibit the path of good energy flow.

Less is more. It is important in your home to establish clarity by removing clutter. Everything from debris, to excess items you do not need should be removed. By simplifying your space, you help remove excess baggage that could also be weighing your life down.

Get to fixing. Entry ways such as doors, serve as a path for Chi to circulate and come through spaces, so fix any broken hinges, paint cracked edges, and oil squeaky parts. Windows also serve as the eyes of your home’s Chi, so keep your glass clean, and replace if broken. Elements of your home’s internals such as plumbing, electrical units, and ventilation represent your own internal health so make sure drains are cleared, electrical elements are in working order, and your vents are cleaned out.

Your Stove and Oven. It is believed that the Chi that surrounds the cook is translated to the food that is prepared, which engenders much attention to the stove and oven area. While you are cooking, if your back is to the door or entrance of the kitchen, you should have a mirror placed right behind the stove on the wall. This aids in establishing balance around the cooking area. Another tip in bringing in prosperity is to utilize all of your burners, by rotating between the uses of each one.

Visibility and Light. One of the most important elements to establishing clarity and positive Chi is through the lighting of your home. Natural and artificial lighting can help light the path for good energy flow between objects in your home, through halls, and into rooms. It is also good to use an array of colors from the light spectrum for variety, and each color represents and different element brought into your home, similarly to how colors affect your chi when selecting paint and furniture.

Being one with your space. How you feel, act and experience elements in your life affect the energy of your space. Have you ever experienced trauma or a positive experience in a particular location? Going back to that particular place has the power to bring back feelings and memories. Making efforts to fill your space with love, happiness, and light, will aid in how the energy of a space interacts back with you. Candles, flowers, positive imagery, or even just singing a song or dancing, can eliminated lingering negative energy and fill it with new and positive ones. Although Feng Shui addresses the energy elements of your house, you can use the same principles to your aesthetic design. Certain elements brought into your home can add positive energy while creating a beautiful addition to your home décor. Bamboo, in Feng Shui, classifies as a wood element, which also acts as a Feng Shui cure. This means that even though certain areas may have a disruptive Chi, having a Bamboo plant or elements are considered lucky. Bamboo, adds a beautiful exotic aesthetic to your décor, and can help balance the energy to your home or backyard garden. The other design element you can include is water. The element of water is the source of all growth and life, in health and more. By introducing a water fountain into an area, you are attracting a constant flow of positive elements and energy into your life. Water fountains, along with bamboo add a natural and exotic look to your home décor, while also providing a relaxing dynamic.

Embrace and give positive energy to your environment through love and joy, and it will reflect the same energy back to you. Remember that Feng Shui is about balance and harmony.

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